I Was a Teenage Thumb
I Was a Teenage Thumb is a 1963 Merrie Melodies short directed by Chuck Jones. Plot George Ebenezer Thumb and his wife Prunhilda desperately want a son, so they are granted a thumb-sized one by the constantly-transforming wizard Ralph K. Merlin Jr. But after being snatched by the family cat, and then by a large bird, the baby manages to escape, then falls victim to a giant fish caught by a knight, which is then brought to King Arthur himself for a meal. The baby then is noticed by Arthur when he cuts open the fish. Arthur makes him a knight, and he eventually marries and has a son the size of his thumb, who has a son the size of his thumb, and so on. Prunhilda is still endlessly knitting a giant bootie while having a strange craving for sardines in strawberry popovers, much to George's horror, who witnesses the insanely large bootie his wife is still knitting. Censorship Versions of this cartoon commonly shown on American television censor King Arthur's line after he finds the thumb-sized baby in his fish, removing the profane word "ass." The scene is edited in at least three different ways depending on the channel: # On ABC and Nickelodeon, King Arthur's line after he finds the thumb-sized baby in his fish, "Morty, you ass! This fish is full of people!" was edited to remove "you ass" (so now the line goes, "Morty...this fish is full of people!"). ABC used to air this uncut on Saturday morning TV between 1985 and 1989. The "you ass" edit wasn't made until 1998. # Rather than edit the "you ass" in "Morty, you ass! This fish is full of people!", Cartoon Network and Boomerang USA's version cut the scene featuring that entire line01/19/63 I Was a Teenage Thumb MM CN Censored at chomikuj.pl. Despite this, this cartoon aired completely uncut and uncensored on CN/Boomerang fees outside the United States, including on the Latin American sister channel Tooncast (evident on the video in the infobox). # In the version shown on the Russian channel 2x2, the fish cutting scene remains, but the line is muted. Notes * In King Arthur's line after he finds the thumb-sized baby in his fish, "Morty, you ass! This fish is full of people!" , the word "ass" he refers to is an informal British term for a stupid or foolish person, rather than a vulgar term for the buttocks. Despite the intention of the word's usage, the word "ass" in his dialogue is often censored from all television showings in the United States (see "Censorship" above for more details) as "ass" is inappropriate to say in children's/family-friendly television in the United States. * This is the Chuck Jones' second Looney Tunes cartoon based on the classic Tom Thumb story, the other being "Tom Thumb in Trouble". This one, however is told with a dry, British twist. * In the opening credits, director Chuck Jones' name was credited as "Chuck Jones. Esq." * Current television prints of this cartoon are known to have blue borders in the opening credits, though both the opening and closing rings don't have borders (as evident by the video in the infobox here). Since the use of colored borders in the opening titles for post-1948 cartoons are usually associated with the Golden Jubilee VHS tape collection of the mid-1980s by fans; it was unknown whether this print was originally mastered to be included in one of the tapes in this said VHS collection but was omitted at the last minute. However, as of 2015, this short has not been available on any home media releases. Television * The Merrie Melodies Show: Episode # 13 (1970's) along with "Mexican Mousepiece" and "Tease for Two". * The Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes Comedy Hour (1985-6) * The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show Gallery I Was a Teenage Thumb.jpg|Title Card (Faded Quality) I Was a Teenage Thumb SBT.png|Title Card (SBT version) I Was a Teenage Thumb.png|Title Card (2x2 version) 1578wb (1).png 1578wb (2).png tumblr_1578k685AY1sc14nono3_1280.jpg tumblr_1578k685AY1sc16nono1_1280.jpg tumblr_1578k685AY1sc18nono4_1280.jpg tumblr_1578k685AY1sc41nono_1280.jpg tumblr_1578k685AY1sc42nono_1280.jpg tumblr_1578k685AY1sc45nono_1280.jpg tumblr_1578k685AY1sc45nono2_1280.jpg tumblr_1578k685AY1sc58nono2_1280.jpg TV Title Cards 49.png|''The Merrie Melodies Show'' References Category:1963 Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts Category:Shorts Category:Cartoons directed by Chuck Jones Category:Cartoons directed by Maurice Noble Category:Cartoons written by John Dunn Category:Cartoons written by Chuck Jones Category:Cartoons with music by Bill Lava Category:Cartoons animated by Bob Bransford Category:Cartoons animated by Richard Thompson Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Philip DeGuard Category:Cartoons animated by Tom Ray Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons with layouts by Robert Givens Category:Cartoons produced by David H. DePatie Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Julie Bennett Category:One-Shot Cartoons